Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 24:50-25:15

Earlier raids did not create the Taranto plan

Attacks on Dunkerque and Richelieu were not the source of Operation Judgment; British planning already reached back to the mid-1930s.

Battle Of TarantoHarbour StrikesInterwar PeriodMediterranean FleetNaval Planning
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Question

Did the British attacks on Dunkerque and Richelieu help plan the raid on Taranto?

Short answer

Not significantly. The Taranto plan already dated to about 1933-34 and evolved with the Mediterranean Fleet's carrier experience.

Notes

A viewer asks whether earlier British attacks on Dunkerque and Richelieu helped planners prepare Taranto. They did not play a major role because the Taranto concept had already been assembled around 1933 or 1934. The idea continued to evolve for as long as the Mediterranean Fleet had a carrier available to develop and practise it. Operation Judgment grew from sustained interwar naval planning rather than an improvised lesson from recent attacks on French ships.